Gleason: Records mean little to Army QB Steelman without win over Navy

WEST POINT — Trent Steelman has broken six Army quarterbacking records. He has led Army to its first bowl win in 25 years. He is the first Army quarterback in the modern era to start all four Army-Navy games.

WEST POINT — Trent Steelman has broken six Army quarterbacking records. He has led Army to its first bowl win in 25 years. He is the first Army quarterback in the modern era to start all four Army-Navy games.

None of it will be enough if Army loses to Navy for the 11th straight time on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. None of it will be enough to secure Steelman's proper place in Army gridiron history. None of it will be enough to bury Steelman's 0-4 record against the Navy Midshipmen.

That is, according to the kid out of Bowling Green (Kent.) High, Trent Steelman.

"Quite honestly, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything if I walk away from here without a win over Navy,'' he said.

Steelman represents a fascinating subplot to the 113th Army-Navy game, another layer of deep meaning to the greatest rivalry in sports. Steelman's assessment speaks to his expectations and the heavy burden he carries to the football field every week. It is surely a measure of his team-first mentality.

But it is also a weight that concerns Army coach Rich Ellerson. He has spent the three-week buildup to Army-Navy hammering home the importance of his charges minimizing distractions. They have been inundated with "Beat Navy'' rhetoric since arriving for Beast Barracks the summer before freshman year. Ellerson has done everything in his power to ensure the Super Bowl-like hoopla leading to the second Saturday in December — "voices,'' he calls them — doesn't detract from the singular focus needed on game day. Army's decade-long losing streak to Navy has only increased the passion in those voices from fans, alumni, schoolmates and media.

No voice, however, is stronger than the one that reverberates inside Steelman.

"That is heavy baggage,'' Ellerson said. "You have to leave it there because that slows him down. My concern with Trent is how you get there. You get there by relaxing and playing the game.''

Ellerson has talked to Steelman and teammates about focusing solely on game preparation. It's why Ellerson has shown little interest in discussing Army's unprecedented losing streak to Navy, or its special moment in 1996 when the Black Knights last won the Commander in Chief's Trophy awarded to the round-robin winner of games between Army, Navy and Air Force. "It's a football game,'' he said. "We need not let that other dialogue get in the way.''

Win or lose, Steelman's Army career will be "unbelievable'' in Ellerson's eyes. Steelman holds Army quarterbacking records for career rushing yards (3,224), season rushing yards (1,152), career rushing attempts (735), career touchdowns (44), season touchdowns (16) and career points (268). But Steelman knows the added stakes in Saturday's game. He knows a valuable jewel would be missing from his bio if that skid against Navy reaches 11.

"Trent is that type of guy,'' Army senior defensive back Josh Jackson said. "I've known Trent since prep school; people know he's a selfless person. For Trent to say that, I really feel that's how the whole senior class feels. Our whole legacy is riding on the Navy game.''

Steelman's seemingly harsh self-analysis has merit. He helped Army finish 5-7 as a freshman and 7-6, capped by beating SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl, as a sophomore. But 3-9 and 2-9 seasons have followed while Army has become one of the worst teams in America at securing the football. Steelman's career record is 16-29.

But like most conversations concerning Black Knights football, there is no simple answer to Steelman's place in the Army pantheon. His won-loss record belongs on a curve given Army's competitive schedules during his career. Consider that Army's 10-2 bowl team of 1996, the model for which recent Army squads strive, played Division I-AAs — now called Football Championship Subdivision teams — Yale and Lafayette. Steelman has faced four FCS teams, one per year, his entire career. And the competitive landscape is far less forgiving compared to '96, with quality programs up and down both levels of Division I football.

Make no mistake, Steelman has had a terrific career. His toughness and will to win must count for something. A high ankle sprain snapped his

32-game starting streak last season, another academy record. He has started 45 of 48 games in his career and played through countless injuries, including significant ankle and knee pain against Navy last year.

"You can't overstate the number of shots he's taken,'' Ellerson said, "sometimes without the ball as well."

Army running back Raymond Maples talked about Steelman playing through broken ribs this season. "That's the type of mentality he's built on this team,'' Maples said. And it's a mentality that has allowed Steelman, in Maples' words, "to arouse a team when we are not doing so hot. Trent is one of those players who never loses hope. You see that it inspires us teammates to play harder.''

Still, there is no disputing the void that will be left in Steelman's career if Army loses Saturday. Just ask Steelman.